{"id":253277,"date":"2026-04-05T21:01:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T21:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/253277\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T21:01:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T21:01:07","slug":"san-diego-christians-mark-easter-with-prayers-for-peace-as-war-in-iran-escalates-nbc-7-san-diego","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/253277\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diego Christians mark Easter with prayers for peace as war in Iran escalates \u2013 NBC 7 San Diego"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the war in Iran intensifies with no clear end in sight, Christians across San Diego County marked one of their most sacred holidays Sunday, celebrating Easter with prayers for peace and renewal.<\/p>\n

Easter Sunday commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ following his crucifixion \u2014 a cornerstone of Christian faith symbolizing hope, rebirth and new beginnings.<\/p>\n

At Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church<\/a> in Logan Heights, parishioners gathered for worship and sacraments, including baptisms that underscored the spiritual meaning of the day.<\/p>\n

The Rev. Hung Nguyen told congregants the message of Easter resonates in every aspect of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our joys, our sorrows, our struggles, God is saying trust,\u201d Nguyen said. \u201cYou look amazing, you look beautiful,” he told the congregation Sunday during the mass delivered in English.<\/p>\n

For many, the day brought a sense of emotional release and renewal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like a weight has been lifted. I’m happy,\u201d said Julianna Morales, a parishioner. \u201cI feel like God\u2019s with me and leading me the (right) way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anthony Jimenez described a similar experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike a rush of happiness and awakeness,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel all the bad, everything that\u2019s been built up, just releases.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"It<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tM.G. PerezM.G. Perez<\/p>\n

It was standing room only at Sunday morning’s Easter mass in English at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Logan Heights, April 5, 2026.<\/p>\n

Across the county, hundreds gathered at Mount Helix for the 109th annual Easter sunrise service, a long-standing tradition that began in 1917.<\/p>\n

Hosted by Legacy Church<\/a>, the service drew people from multiple Christian denominations, united in worship as music echoed across the hillside.<\/p>\n

We believe that God wants to bring peace, and we believe He wants to bring it through His people.<\/p>\n

Thomas Lengyel, Senior Pastor at Legacy Church<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, God\u2019s dwelling place is now among the people,\u201d Senior Pastor Thomas Lengyel said during his sermon.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Christians, we believe that the world ultimately is a broken place. People are lost and looking for hope,\u201d Lengyel told NBC 7. \u201cWe believe that God wants to bring peace, and we believe He wants to bring it through His people.\u201d<\/p>\n

From church pews to the mountaintop gathering, the message was consistent: a call for peace in a time of uncertainty \u2014 and a belief that prayers can reach far beyond church walls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the war in Iran intensifies with no clear end in sight, Christians across San Diego County marked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[85617,6572,24816,6163,74,76,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-253277","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-easter","9":"tag-la-mesa","10":"tag-logan-heights","11":"tag-religion","12":"tag-san-diego","13":"tag-san-diego-headlines","14":"tag-san-diego-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}